Turkish PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk has been released six weeks after plainclothes ICE agents bundled her into a van and held her in an immigration detention centre in Louisiana. The Trump administration had revoked her student visa over an article she co-authored criticising Tufts University’s ties to Israel.
New Delhi, India – Mukeet Shah had not slept for days, doomscrolling on his mobile phone as he remained hooked to news updates on the spiralling India-Pakistan conflict.
A phone call from his mother, Tanveera Bano, on Saturday made it worse. “Please, come back [home]. Why be apart when we can at least die together?” she urged her younger son, who studies at a university in New Delhi, the national capital.
Shah, 23, said her appeal shattered him. An hour or so later, another news flash popped up on his phone: “US President Donald Trump says India and Pakistan have agreed to a ‘full and immediate’ ceasefire.” Moments later, the South Asian rivals confirmed the ceasefire, mediated by dozens of countries besides the United States.
“It was such a relief,” Shah recalled. Happily, he called home. “Both countries have agreed to peace. We will spend more time soon, don’t be afraid, mother,” he told 48-year-old Bano, who asked him to focus on his studies and return home only after his annual exams.
However, barely three hours after that phone call, the sense of relief was blown away. A barrage of drones had hit Srinagar, the main city in Indian-administered Kashmir, forcing another electricity blackout. Similar reports of firings and drone sightings came from other cities in the region, including Jammu, Anantnag, as well as the border districts of Rajasthan and Gujarat states.
On the Pakistan side as well, several villages along the Line of Control (LoC) – the de facto border that divides Kashmir – reported alleged ceasefire violations by the Indian forces. As Pakistan and India denied each other’s allegations and reaffirmed their commitment to the ceasefire, questions were raised on whether the fragile agreement between the nuclear-powered neighbours would hold.
Bano called her son again, crying.
“In her intermittent pauses, I could hear sounds of blasts behind her as she broke down. The jets were loud as well,” Shah told Al Jazeera on Saturday night, sitting in a huddle with his Kashmiri friends in a New Delhi neighbourhood, 800km (about 500 miles) away from home.
Eighteen days after gunmen killed 26 civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir’s resort town of Pahalgam, nearly 1.6 billion people on either side of the border reeled under the fears of another India-Pakistan war over Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region claimed in full by both the nations that rule over parts of it.
An armed rebellion against New Delhi’s rule erupted on the Indian side in 1989. Since then, tens of thousands of people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict. New Delhi accuses Islamabad of backing the rebellion, but Pakistan denies the allegation and claims to provide only diplomatic support to the Kashmiris’ struggle for an independent state or a likely merger with Pakistan.
Abbas, a Srinagar resident who requested to be identified by his last name only, told Al Jazeera the loud explosions his family heard on Saturday night were terrifying.
“Each blast came out of nowhere and left us scared and confused. As a Kashmiri, I have lived through tough times before, but this [current conflict] feels different,” he said.
Abbas said he had been waking up to toddlers crying amid explosions at night.
“It feels like a psychological war has been waged on us. The fear isn’t just from the blasts; it is from the uncertainty and a lack of transparency,” he said. “Kashmiris are once again stuck in the middle, with no refuge, no escape.”
Yet, the ceasefire announcement on Saturday evening was met with jubilation in several frontier districts on the Indian side, especially among thousands of displaced residents since the cross-border tensions mounted earlier this month.
Deepak Singh, a 40-year-old resident of Poonch, one of the most affected border districts in Indian-administered Kashmir, said in a brief phone interview that his family of four looked forward to leaving their shelter and being home.
“We have known a life that gets disturbed by the border clashes, but I am hopeful to return to my home soon,” Singh told Al Jazeera.
But that was before the explosions were reported from Srinagar. As both sides accused each other of breaching the truce, Singh said he felt devastated.
“Not again,” he later said. “Till how long are we supposed to sleep in this shelter? Will this ceasefire hold at all?”
More than 1,000km (620 miles) away, Pradyot Verma was having similar feelings.
A resident of Jodhpur, a border town in India’s western state of Rajasthan, Verma said their joy and relief were short-lived as they witnessed another round of blackouts and siren alerts on Saturday night, keeping the residents in an anxious loop.
“The ceasefire announcement was met with cheers here,” said the 26-year-old law student as he sat in darkness in his rented room. “Indian defence system keeps on intercepting [Pakistan-origin missiles] and we are hoping that they keep doing it.”
After four days of military escalation, during which Indian and Pakistani forces attacked each other’s military installations, they agreed on a ceasefire, which Trump said was reached after “a long night of talks” mediated by the US and other countries. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the two nations have also agreed to “start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site”.
However, geopolitical and military experts argue the ceasefire is fragile and does not promise much.
“The Indian government has already signalled rebutting Rubio’s assertion that India and Pakistan have agreed to start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site,” Sumantra Bose, a political scientist, told Al Jazeera. “It is something [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi’s government just can’t do, given its commitment to unilateralism on Kashmir and rejection of diplomatic engagement with Pakistan.”
Bose said the ceasefire was merely a “band-aid slapped on a profusely bleeding wound that was threatening to turn gangrenous if not fatal”.
While the escalation might have stopped due to intervention by foreign governments, “the problem is all the other parameters and vectors of the India-Pakistan relationship and the Kashmir conflict remain as before”, Bose said, adding, “in an even more bitter and toxic form than was the case earlier”.
However, Michael Kugelman, an expert on South Asia politics, stressed that the subcontinent was “back from the brink of war”.
“This ceasefire, so long as it holds, even with some violations, does bring an end to what had been the biggest regional security threat by far in decades,” he told Al Jazeera.
“This is going to be a very difficult ceasefire to uphold. It was very quickly put together at a moment when India-Pakistan tensions were soaring [and] this is also a ceasefire that appears to have been interpreted differently by India,” added Kugelman, referring to India’s historic position on Kashmir, which has been a consistent rejection of any attempt by Pakistan at internationalising the issue.
But for the people living along the tense borders between the South Asian rivals, a cautious optimism is their only recourse.
“We are holding this ceasefire very dear to us,” said a Kashmiri political analyst, who requested anonymity, fearing reprisal from the Indian authorities.
“Be it anyone’s war, India or Pakistan, people on the border, Kashmiris and Punjabis, have been losing their lives for generations. I hope this madness stops here.”
Albanians are casting ballots in the general election, with Prime Minister Edi Rama seeking an unprecedented fourth term after a campaign dominated by promises of European Union membership and corruption allegations.
Polling stations opened at 7am local time (05:00 GMT) on Sunday and would close at 7pm (17:00 GMT), with results expected on Monday.
Nearly 3.7 million Albanians, including hundreds of thousands living abroad, are eligible to vote. For the first time, members of the diaspora can cast their ballots by mail.
Rama, leader of the governing Socialist Party since 2013, has positioned himself as the architect of Albania’s EU future. He has pledged that the country will join the bloc by 2030, repeating the promise at his final rally: “We will get our fourth mandate, and we will not lose a single day for Albania 2030 in the EU.”
Rama’s main rival, 80-year-old Sali Berisha, a former president and prime minister, leads the conservative Democratic Party.
Despite being banned from entering the United States and the United Kingdom over alleged corruption, which he denies, Berisha has retained a loyal following and adopted slogans including “Make Albania Great Again”.
Rama has faced allegations of state capture, with opposition voices warning that the political playing field is far from even.
Critics say Rama’s dominance over public institutions has undermined democratic checks.
Rama’s administration has not escaped scrutiny, with his close ally – Tirana’s mayor Erion Veliaj – arrested this year over alleged corruption and money laundering. Both men deny the allegations.
The political contest is, in many ways, a rematch of old rivals. Rama and Berisha have dominated public life since the fall of communism in 1990. Many younger voters have grown disillusioned with both.
“I will vote for new politicians because those like Rama and Berisha have been here for three decades and they only replace themselves,” said 21-year-old Arber Qazimi, speaking to the Reuters news agency.
Others, like Erisa, an economics student, plan to abstain entirely. “I am only thinking how to go out of the country to study and then stay there and never come back,” she said, echoing the sentiment of many among the estimated one million Albanians who have emigrated in the past decade.
With the Socialists potentially needing allies to retain their narrow majority, smaller parties could prove decisive in shaping the next government.
The campaign trail shifted largely to social media platforms, though a yearlong TikTok ban – imposed over online bullying and incitement – has led to accusations of censorship.
The Democratic Party brought in American political strategist Chris LaCivita, known for his role in US President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, in a bid to sharpen their message.
At least 21 people have been killed and many others injured when a bus carrying dozens of Buddhist pilgrims in central Sri Lanka careened off a cliff, according to authorities.
The crash took place early on Sunday in a mountainous area near the town of Kotmale, about 140km (86 miles) east of the capital, Colombo.
“Twenty one have died and we are trying to identify the victims,” Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways Prasanna Gunasena told local media.
The toll could have been higher, the minister added, if not for local residents helping pull people from the mangled wreckage and rushing them to hospital.
Television footage showed the bus overturned at the bottom of a precipice while volunteers helped rescue injured people from the rubble.
The roof and side panels of the bus were sheared off, and more than half the seats were ripped from the floor of the vehicle, which landed wheels up into a tea plantation, photos of the wreckage showed.
Police said 24 people were being treated in two hospitals.
One survivor told a local journalist that he had been in the front section of the bus and was lucky to have escaped with only minor injuries.
“The bus was leaning to the left side and as the driver was negotiating a bend, he lost control and it fell down the precipice,” said the man, who did not give his name, in a video seen by AFP news agency.
Jack Della Maddalena took away Belal Muhammad’s potent wrestling ability, allowing only one takedown en route to becoming the new welterweight champion in the main event of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 315 in Montreal, Canada.
He won the five-rounder by scores of 48-47, 48-47, 49-45 on Saturday night.
Della Maddalena used volume striking to frustrate the now-former welterweight champion, nearly finishing the fight on several occasions. Della Maddalena (18-2, Mixed Martial Arts) has now won 18 in a row. Muhammad (24-4, 1 No Contest) was making his first title defence and had won 11 consecutive fights.
Della Maddalena credited Muhammad’s toughness but said post-fight that he knew he was not going to let it slip away.
“It felt [expletive] good,” the Australian said with a smile.
He said he was intrigued by UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev’s possible move to welterweight, and was open to exacting revenge on the Russian. His fellow Australian, Alexander Volkanovski, lost both bouts to Makhachev.
It is the first loss for Muhammad, a Chicago native, since January 2019.
Valentina Shevchenko successfully defended her UFC women’s flyweight title in the co-main event over Manon Fiorot, winning by a unanimous 48-47, 48-47, 48-47 decision to hand Fiorot (12-2, MMA) her first UFC loss.
Despite a closely contested fight, Shevchenko (25-4, 1 NC MMA) pushed the pace in the fourth and fifth rounds to tire out Fiorot and give the Frenchwoman little room to work after signs of early success through three gruelling rounds.
“I expected a hard fight,” Shevchenko, a 125-pounder from Kyrgyzstan, said in the Octagon following the win.
The victory marked Shevchenko’s 14th in the UFC, including 10 title fights.
Initially scheduled as a bantamweight fight, Canadian featherweight Aiemann Zahabi earned a win by unanimous decision against former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, taking the three scorecards by matching 29-28 scores.
Aldo nearly finished Zahabi in the third round with a head kick, followed by a flurry of strikes. However, Zahabi was able to survive Aldo’s attacks, gain the top position, and open a cut on Aldo.
The win for Zahabi (13-2, MMA) marked Brazilian Aldo’s (32-10) final MMA fight, announcing his retirement in the Octagon.
“I just don’t have it in my heart any more,” said Aldo, 38. “I think this is the last time you’re going to see me.”
Women’s flyweight Natalia Silva of Brazil knocked off former champion Alexa Grasso from her top-contender status with a unanimous decision win, all by 30-27 scores.
Silva (19-5-1, MMA) has won her first six UFC fights, while Mexico’s Grasso (16-5-1, MMA) has to return to the drawing board to remain in contention. Silva opened a noticeable cut above Grasso’s eyelid, swinging the momentum in the second round before a one-sided Round 3 followed suit with dominant kickboxing ability.
Lightweight Benoit Saint-Denis of France had no trouble beating Canadian Kyle Prepolec, a late replacement, with an arm triangle choke at 2:35 of the second round.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15, “without preconditions” to achieve “lasting peace” and “eliminate the root causes” of the three-year conflict.
The offer, delivered early on Sunday, came hours after the leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom called for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire to start on Monday.
The leaders, who were meeting in Kyiv, said their call is backed by United States President Donald Trump and threatened “massive” new sanctions on Moscow if it did not agree with their plan.
Putin did not explicitly address that call in his comments, but slammed European “ultimatums” and “anti-Russian rhetoric” before outlining the counter-proposal for renewed Russia-Ukraine negotiations.
“We are proposing that Kyiv resume direct negotiations without any preconditions,” the Russian president told reporters. “We offer the Kyiv authorities to resume negotiations already on Thursday, in Istanbul.”
Putin said that he would speak to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later on Sunday about facilitating the talks.
There was no immediate response from Ukraine to the proposal.
But Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously said he was ready for peace talks, but only after a ceasefire is in place.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022, has left hundreds of thousands of soldiers dead and triggered the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators held direct talks in Istanbul in the first weeks of the conflict, but failed to agree to halt the fighting.
Putin said Russia was proposing restarting the talks in an attempt to “eliminate the root causes of the conflict” and “to achieve the restoration of a long-term, lasting peace” rather than simply a pause for rearmament.
“We do not exclude that during these talks we will be able to agree on some new ceasefire,” he added.
Putin, whose forces have advanced over the past year, has faced increased public and private pressure from Trump as well as warnings from European powers to end the war.
But he has offered few concessions and has stood firm in his conditions for ending the war.
In June 2024, Putin said Ukraine must officially drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw its troops from the entirety of the territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed by Russia.
Russian officials have also proposed that the US recognise Russia’s control over about one-fifth of Ukraine and demanded that Ukraine remain neutral, though Moscow has said it is not opposed to Kyiv’s ambitions to join the European Union.
Putin specifically mentioned the 2022 draft deal from the talks in Istanbul.
Under that draft, Ukraine should agree to permanent neutrality in return for international security guarantees from the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council: China, France, Russia, the UK and the US.
“It was not Russia that broke off negotiations in 2022. It was Kyiv,” Putin said. “Russia is ready to negotiate without any preconditions.”
He thanked China, Brazil, African and Middle Eastern countries and the US for their efforts to mediate.
Russia, Putin added, had proposed several ceasefires, including a moratorium on striking energy facilities, an Easter ceasefire, and most recently, the 72-hour truce during the celebrations marking 80 years since victory in World War II, but accused Ukraine of repeatedly violating the ceasefires.
He said that during the May ceasefire, Ukraine had attacked Russia with 524 aerial drones, 45 sea drones, a number of Western missiles and that Russia had repelled five attacks on Russian regions.
Ukraine, too, has accused Russia of repeatedly violating its own ceasefire.
Earlier on Saturday, for the first time, the leaders of France, Germany, Poland and the UK travelled together to Ukraine in a visit that Zelenskyy said sent “a very important signal”.
The five leaders, following their meeting in Kyiv, issued a statement calling for a ceasefire “lasting at least 30 days” from Monday, to make room for a diplomatic push to end the war.
“An unconditional ceasefire by definition cannot be subject to any conditions. If Russia calls for such conditions, this can only be considered as an effort to prolong the war and undermine diplomacy,” the statement read.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the US would take the lead in monitoring the proposed ceasefire, with support from European countries, and threatened “massive sanctions … prepared and coordinated between Europeans and Americans” should Russia violate the truce.
Meanwhile, retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, said Saturday that a “comprehensive” 30-day ceasefire, covering attacks from the air, land, sea and on infrastructure, “will start the process for ending the largest and longest war in Europe since World War II”.
Trump, who says he wants to be remembered as a peacemaker, has repeatedly said he wants to end the “bloodbath” of the Ukraine war, which his administration casts as a proxy war between the US and Russia.
Former US President Joe Biden, Western European leaders and Ukraine cast the invasion as an imperial-style land grab and repeatedly pledged to defeat Russian forces.